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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/09/21 in all areas

  1. Because he was not in line to the throne. (Well he was, but about 70th or something like that.) Parliament could in theory have been made him "king consort" but that's very rare. The only time it happened was in the 16th Century when Mary I married Philip of Spain, but that was because he was already heir to the Spanish throne. (Also William of Orange, husband of Mary II was crowned as William III, but that was more for overthrowing Mary's father, the very unpopular James II than for being the new queen's husband.) Queen Victoria wanted her husband Prince Albert to be king, but parliament refused it. Generally speaking being married to a queen only makes you a prince, not a king. (And it's not automatic either.)
    2 points
  2. Vort

    The Duke of Edinburgh

    I have never been one of those Americans that harbo(u)rs a secret (or open) fascination with British royalty, but I did note the passing of the Queen's husband with regret for the family. It seems as though the very lives of the "royals" are defined from birth by their public roles. I respect those in that situation who recognize and choose to embrace their roles despite personal cost. That seems to be the path taken by the Queen and her consort. I honor them for their efforts.
    2 points
  3. I'll give you my taco seasoning recipe that I use. I make a big batch of my own and store it in a baggie within a jar with a lid. Here's my basic recipe that I usually triple to make a big batch. Dravin and I want to try to make our own chili powder, too, sometime. 4 tablespoons chili powder 2 tablespoons cumin 1 tablespoon paprika 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon dried onion 1 teaspoon oregano 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon dried cilantro ½ teaspoon red chili pepper You can add salt to this but I don't (I just salt whatever meat or beans I'm using). Also you can make this spicier by adding more red chili pepper or other type of dried pepper.
    2 points
  4. @Vort I look forward to reading these posts in greater detail as I get time. I've only skimmed and may have missed some important notes and if so, disregard my desire to help as being redundant. I was noting your stomach pains after eating following not eating for around a week and was wondering if you are familiar with refeeding syndrome. I don't think you've experienced it, but it is a possibility to be familiar with. I personally never fast longer than 48 hours just to be safe since I can't be bothered to do a medically supervised fast. I'm sure most of the time a week or so is great. Anyhow, refeeding syndrome can be fatal and I'd hate for you to pass on prematurely. Some primary concerns are electrolyte imbalances and a cascade of inadequate nutrition to properly metabolize food wherein by introducing food while specific nutrients are low (but the need for them is high to deal with the incoming food) it creates a situation where eating actually creates a greater need for nutrients (a key one being vitamin B1/thiamine) and can begin a cascade of unwanted effects such as organ failure and even death. Please undertand I am not trying to dissuade you from long fasts, but just want you to be aware of some risks and possibly work with a trusted advisor/do your own research to take appropriate precautions.... you may not intend to get that close to the Lord from your fasting just yet. https://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/30/refeeding-syndrome-dont-forget-thiamine-deficiency https://www.healthline.com/health/refeeding-syndrome
    2 points
  5. Jamie123

    The Duke of Edinburgh

    We all knew it was coming. He was 99 after all, but it still feels like a shock. The Queen and Prince Philip have been part of the bedrock of this country for so long now, it feels so strange one of them has gone. Plus I liked him. He was a funny guy. They say that when one goes, the other follows soon after. After that...King Charles III? That WILL take some getting used to! Anyway, rest in peace Philip. And sympathy to Her Majesty and all the family.
    1 point
  6. Jamie123

    The Duke of Edinburgh

    Anyone in the UK at any rate.
    1 point
  7. THIRD LONG FAST I had an abortive fast attempt that began on March 9 and ended less than two days later. I had to make a trip a few hundred miles away, and on the way to the airport, my wife wanted to eat at an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria in the Seattle area that I had eaten at many years before when working in that area, and that I had told her how great it was. I barely remembered it until we got there, but it was indeed very good. For the sake of a date with my wife, I stopped the experimental fast after only about 46 hours. I thought that I may not do any long fasting in March. Turns out the opportunity presented itself later that month. DAY 0: Sunday 21 March 2021 I began fasting after talking with my daughter-in-law over some specific concerns she had. My goal in this fast was to implore the Lord that his hand be shown and certain changes be effected in people's lives. I had no specific goal for how long the fast would last. I last ate between maybe 7 pm and 10 pm, so when I started keeping track a few days later, I estimated 8:30 pm as the approximate starting time. For the first 24 hours or so, this was a full fast, neither eating nor drinking anything. I did not weigh myself at the start of the fast, though I estimate my weight was something close to 98 kg (216 lbs). My mind and spirit were focused on the matters at hand, and not with weight loss or the effects of fasting or any such thing. Nevertheless, after a few days I started keeping some track of my weight. I think the spiritual aspect of my fast suffered when I started examining my reactions closely. I do not believe that such self-awareness per se necessarily works against the spiritual effects of fasting. I do, however, think that my own strength and ability in fasting is immature and undeveloped enough that pulling my attention away from the declared purpose of my fast even just to see how much I weigh and ask myself how I'm feeling is apparently enough to disrupt my "fasting mindset". This is a valuable insight for me long-term. I don't want to lose the self-aware, self-examining aspect of fasting, but I even more don't want to lose out on spiritual growth and insight and other blessings because I'm so busy navel-gazing or distracted with unimportant trivia that I miss the actual spiritual blessings of the fast. So this is something I will have to think about going forward. DAY 3: Wednesday 24 March 2021 This was the first day I weighed myself: 94.6 kg (208.6 lbs) at 7 pm. By this time, I had been drinking water. In retrospect, I was not drinking enough. This was the fast where I figured out that I had been dehydrated in previous extended fasts. So future efforts at extended fasting will include drinking a lot more water, even if I have to drink it on a scheduled regimen. Effects: By Wednesday, I had entered the period of feeling relaxed/a bit weak. Less overall feeling of discomfort or hunger. Making a list of foods I found myself wanting seemed to lessen or eliminate some of the obsession I had previously felt about food in general and certain dishes in particular. Toward the end of my fast, I found myself not really caring about eating specific foods. So I think that was a small breakthrough of sorts in this fast. DAY 4: Thursday 25 March 2021 93.6 kg (206.4 lbs) at 7:00 pm. Effects: Nothing in particular DAY 5: Friday 26 March 2021 92.6 kg (204.2 lbs) at 5:00 pm. Losing about 1 kg per day. I did some moderate yard work for about an hour in the early evening, moving wheelbarrows full of dirt (probably about 250 pounds per wheelbarrowfull, enough that I had to work at it) and shoveling stuff around to prepare for grass seeding the following week. It wasn't easy, and I was weaker than usual and had to rest a lot, but I was surprised by how much I could do. I thought I would be weak as a kitten and not be able to do much. That's not how it was. Effects: Nothing substantial. Even after my hour of yardwork, I felt good. It was at about this point that I began suspecting I had been dehydrated during this and previous long fasts. DAY 6: Saturday 27 March 2021 My son and his family flew home on this day. I continued fasting for another day. At 11:00 pm I weighed 91.8 kg (202.4 lbs). Effects: Honestly, I felt fine. Relaxed, a bit tired, but not bad at all. DAY 7: Sunday 28 March 2021 I broke my fast just before 5 pm, when the missionaries came to eat with us. I weighed myself just before eating, and was at 90.7 kg or 200 lbs, the first time I've weighed 200 pounds in probably 15 years. Effects: I was fine. Total fast time: 164 hours 30 minutes ± 90 minutes (6 days, 20 hours, 30 minutes ± 90 minutes) AFTERMATH I avoided overeating when breaking my fast. As I wrote in an entry above, the following day I had some sharp stomach pains that led me to think that I may have developed an ulcer from fasting. But the pain subsided within half a day, and I was just fine after that. So I don't think there was any ulcer. [NOTE: It was a gallstone, so not fast-related.] Still, I may add the occasional glass of baking soda water to my drink when fasting for extended periods. I suspect just maintaining a good hydration level will probably be sufficient to avoid such problems in the future. CONCLUSION AND RETROSPECTIVE I think my tracking of my weight and general feeling took my mind off of the purpose of my fasting, which is unfortunate. I need to be single-minded in my fasting, not worrying about trivia and nonsense. Not exactly sure how that will factor into possible future extended fasts. If I continue these experiments, I should possibly consider holding a separate spiritual fast once per month, unaffiliated with any "long" fasts, during which I simply give myself over to fasting for however long I feel I should, without worrying about anything else. But despite my personal failings, this fast was a very positive experience, even joyful, something I look forward to repeating.
    1 point
  8. Wait - the Queen's husband has been alive all this time? How come he's not king? I'm now in my 5th decade of sort of half-watching news reports about how the queen is old. That's about all I know about the British royal family. Well, that, and Princess Di died the same week as Mother Theresa. I only know that because it's fun to point it out and watch people re-think their priorities about who should be paid attention to.
    1 point
  9. When I read your article I thought about what President Russell Nelson said in General Conference on Sunday: "If you have doubts about God the Father and His Beloved Son or the validity of the Restoration or the veracity of Joseph Smith’s divine calling as a prophet, choose to believe and stay faithful. Take your questions to the Lord and to other faithful sources. Study with the desire to believe rather than with the hope that you can find a flaw in the fabric of a prophet’s life or a discrepancy in the scriptures. Stop increasing your doubts by rehearsing them with other doubters. Allow the Lord to lead you on your journey of spiritual discovery." And adding my own advice: If you are going to read material that is against the Gospel of Christ make sure you do not neglect material that is from Faithful sources and from the LORD.
    1 point
  10. In the late 60's I had just returned from my mission. I was having some spiritual difficulties. Prior to my mission I had spent time in the army and received orders to combat in Vietnam but the last minute my orders were changed. My best friend from the military went to Vietnam and did not return leaving behind a young wife and daughter. I was the reason he joined the church but because he was black his wife had reservations (I never met his wife). There were other that I knew that did not return from Vietnam. I was not so troubled on my mission because I did not learn of their deaths until I was released from my mission. In addition an Elder from my mission (not a companion) was drafted after his mission and was killed in Vietnam. I was determined to teach physics and math at the high school level but flunked remedial spelling 3 semesters in a row and was kicked out of the teaching department. I was not sure what things were turning out as they were. I was also most disappointed with the young ladies at BYU that I felt lacked any real spirituality (more concerned with skirt lengths and being popular). I give this little background so any reader can understand my spiritual frustration and desire for a unique spiritual experience. A companion from my mission suggested that I seek spiritual guidance through a spiritual quest common to some native Americans - he was full blooded native American and at the time the only LDS member of his tribe. In essence the spiritual quest was a type of fast in the wilderness. And so I walked out of civilization into the Utah wilderness between Moab Utah and a small city (Escalante) on a 40 day fast. My fast was not what @Vortdescribes as a full fast from food and water but rather a fast from civilization - eating only what G-d and nature would provide. I wore my combat attire (fatigues, boots and jacket) from the army and took a rope, blanket and knife and left at the beginning of April. I fully expected an experience similar to Enos in the Book of Mormon. I expected a visit by angles to straighten out my spiritual problems. I thought my experience was ruined about a week past my halfway point when I came upon a fellow that was lost. He was on a work release project from the state prison. He was very dehydrated and weak. His boots were new and he could hardly walk from blisters. We were in a wilderness area - miles from any roads. He was much larger than me - I could not carry him and I was certain if I left him for help that he would die before I could get back. It took about 4 days before I as able to get him out - we were spotted by a search party that was looking for him. And so I never had any great revelations - I thought my fast was a failure. However, over the years I discovered that my quest was far more successful that I thought at the time. When I returned to civilization it was like reading the Book of Mormon and finding answers to problems from things I experienced on my fast. This has turned out to be one of my greatest life experiences. When I returned I could smell so many things - everybody smelled like cows??? I weighed 110 lbs and thought I was weak from lack of food. The last day I hiked out just over 20 miles and decided to run as far as I could. I ran the full 20+ miles with all my stuff in about 3 hours and never tired - I could have ran harder. My point in this story to the forum is that there are other fasts - beyond going without food and water. For example if someone is having Word of Wisdom challenges that can attempt a word of wisdom fast for a day or week or whatever. Or one could try a 10 hour fast of spending that time doing temple work in the temple. The purpose of a fast is to make our prayers more meaningful and to draw closer to G-d. The goal is not to starve or thirst or lose weight. The Traveler
    1 point